Description
Book SynopsisAs a playwright screenwriter and director Arthur Laurents has a unique place in the history of theater. In this moving exhilarating and provocative account he presents readers with a front-row look at the making of two of the greatest musicals of the American stage ÊWest Side StoryÊ and ÊGypsyÊ. He writes in rich detail about his new bilingual production of ÊWest Side StoryÊ along with his most recent production of ÊGypsyÊ how it began as an act of love and how that love spread through the entire company and resulted in a ÊGypsyÊ unlike any other.ÞLaurents offers behind-the-scenes details about the musicals he directed including ÊI Can Get It for You WholesaleÊ its producer David Merrick (the Abominable Showman ) and its (very young) stars Barbra Streisand and Elliott Gould. He dishes on Stephen Sondheim''s ÊAnyone Can WhistleÊ which starred Angela Lansbury and Lee Remick marking the debut for each in musical theater. And he recounts the challenges and surprises that c
Trade ReviewRequired reading for anyone who is passionate about musical theatre ...a sublimely dishy portrait of Broadway's golden age and beyond, ranging from legends such as Ethel Merman, Jerome Robbins and Stephen Sondheim to Laurents' late partner, Tom Hatcher, whose influence on his work is movingly detailed. - USA Today
